News
Last School Days Episode Preempted by Real-Life Crime
posted on by Egan Loo
All five stations in Japan that aired the School Days television series have preempted the anime's final episode this week, in light of a real-life axe murder of a Kyoto-area police sergeant allegedly by his daughter Tuesday. The 12th and last episode of School Days includes a scene of a schoolgirl going on violent rampage on a victim. Kanagawa Prefecture's tvk, the first station to preempt the episode the day after the murder, instead aired a series of unrelated scenery images and the following text: "The programming has changed due to certain circumstances."
Police say that the 16-year-old daughter of a 45-year-old police sergeant in the traffic division at Minami Police Station in Kyoto Prefecture bought an axe in advance of the murder. She also allegedly changed into a black dress before killing her father in the early morning of September 18, as her 41-year-old mother and 19-year-old sister slept. Officials say that they found her in the same dress with bloodstains, and that she admitted to the crime in custody.
After tvk decided not to air the final episode of School Days, TV Chiba, TV Aichi, TV Tama (in Saitama), and TV Osaka followed suit. The tvk station had already planned to air the episode with the blood in the violent scene re-colored from red to black, before preempting the episode entirely. The Anime Theater-X (AT-X) satellite channel, which runs School Days repeats after the over-the-air episode premieres, says it is "considering" its plans. AT-X specifically restricts some programming to audiences over 15 years old. The official website for School Days has posted a notice saying that the decision on whether to air the final episode later will be announced the homepage.
The School Days anime is based on an adult computer romance simulation game, in which a girl is torn between her feelings for a boy and her selfless desire to help the boy pursue another girl. Some of the multiple endings of the game involve the characters killing and getting killed in violent manners.
Thanks you to enjin2000 for the news tip.
Source: The Mainichi Newspapers' Mantan Web
Image © Stack, School Days Production Committee 2007
